Rep. Jayapal Calls for Reparations to Be Paid to Illegal Families Separated at the Border

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said on Friday that the United States government should pay reparations to families that were separated after they entered the United States legally or illegally and faced immigration proceedings.

Jayapal appeared on MSNBC to talk about her interaction with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker during a House Judiciary hearing on Friday, where she asked him about family separations.

“Our country is still reeling from the horror of family separations that occurred at the border,” Jayapal said ahead of questioning Whitaker.

Jayapal told MSNBC host Joy Reid that the separations are “a heinous crime that has been committed on thousands of children.”

Jayapal slammed Whitaker for what she called a “dismissive” attitude and for saying that people have “a lot of passion” about children whose parents brought them to the border and an uncertain fate.

“This is an issue that I know there is a lot of passion about,” Whitaker said. “I appreciate your passion.”

“It’s something we share together,” Whitaker said.

“If we all don’t have real passion, real commitment to figuring out what happened and making reparations, the U.S. government should make reparations for what we have done to these families,” Jayapal said.

Jayapal posted the MSNBC interview on her Twitter account.

I’m proud of my passion, Mr. Whitaker. We all should show real passion and a real commitment to fixing what was done to these families and these children. This is lasting trauma for thousands of children—we must make reparations. pic.twitter.com/hceesi4xk5